Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Apparently he's relinquishing the hat; shiitake must be getting real if he's willing to come out of that closet. The fact that he's the first to do so voluntarily since 1296 (the 15th century example the news outlets keep mentioning was ousted), and that it's literally the eve of Lent makes the whole thing stink like yesterday's diapers. Very interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/pope-benedict-xvi-says-he-will-retire.html?_r=0

I hope someone has a video camera when an alter boy or priest stands up and in their best Alexander Haig impersonation declares that they are in control.

So. Any bets on whether they go with someone who will reflect change and the growing diversity of the Catholic church or another old, white, mysogynistic asshat?

I'm dying to know what they have on him.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the Vatican some days.

Seriously. I'm really curious as to what happened.

Agreed. Super curious to know what actually sparked his decision ("some precedent" doesn't come close to accounting for the fact that the last voluntary step-down was in the 13th century!) and who the new hatted dude will be.

Also, goldstar for the thread title, desdemona.

I do think some in the church were a little resentful that Pope John Paul II stayed Pope for so long, so MAYBE if it looks like he's going to be ill for a long time there was some pressure, but I doubt it.

The worst thing about historical events is that we'll not know the full story for years to come :/ I wanna know now!

There may not be any big conspiracy. Apparently he said years ago that a pope in failing health should resign, at least according to that NYT article.

Yes but he's been sick for a long time, before he even became pope, he even thought his papacy was going to be short because he thought he'd probably die soon. If its that his reason, why now and why become pope at all?

I thought the whole pope job title included in the job description: "Must be willing to pope it up 'til death!" And to work your way up that organization, become BFF with god, and then quit? Something stinks, for sure.

My best guess is Alzheimers or some other form of dementia, but that's purely speculation.

yeah...that was my thoughts. if it's something that might make him say weird things, or just get so confused...he'd probably want to resign. knowing you have something like alzheimers and it's only going to get worse must be hell, especially if you're head of one of the biggest religious organisations in the world.

Seeing as how last time wasn't that long ago and they made a reactionary choice that seemed like it was designed to cement the church in the past, I'm gonna go with old, white, misogynistic asshat. It's the safe bet.

It's time to make way for a young African misogynistic asshat.

I was living in Poland when John Paul II died, and all of my students were obsessed with the St Malachy prophecies. THE FALL OF ROME YOU GUYS!

I wonder whether the next guy could ever be as good at covering up child rape.

But where are they going to find one that's a Nazi too?

They can't afford to peas off neo-nazi followers. That could result in another schism. They better stick to Hitlerjugend members.

Although not Catholic myself, I attend a very Catholic university. I'll be interested to see the reactions around campus.

I want to get big into some pope-spiracy theories but I feel like he's probably actually just really sick. If that is the case, good job for quitting.

You left out homophobic! They were talking about this on the BBC this morning; despite the fact that Catholicism is growing in the "developing" parts of the world, the consensus thus far indicates that it will probably be another candidate from team Old & White. What can you expect from an essentially medieval institution that is happy to remain there? You just know that very single "modern" pope yearns for the glory days, when Innocent III had every monarch in Christendom under his thumb...or else.Yeah, my partner is a medievalist who teaches at a Jesuit university; I'll be interested to hear about the scuttlebutt on campus when he gets home tonight!

i think he's just about to get outed as part of the whole Savile scandal. Operation Yewtree bags another scalp.

Or, y'know, he did just join Twitter a couple months ago... The trolls always win!

It's not like the hierarchy of Catholicism in the developing world is liberal anyway. An African or Latin American who could get elected to pope is not going to be a liberal pope. And no pope is going to be elected who isn't old, because you can't get to the rank you have to be at to be elected without already being old. I'm not that offended by old. I have respect for experience.

My use of old sort of wrapped up the whole dinosaur thing too. But, I do think a more active pope who travels more would probably be an improvement. And a pope from Africa or Ltin America might help shake things up a bit. It's all relative though and considering they aren't going anywhere, a teensy tiny, minuscule step to the left would still be better. I think that some of those cardinals may have a better perspective on some social issues. Again, better is relative.